Environment Report

Our centennial in 2016 marked 100 years of innovation in products and services that helped transform aviation and the world. The same dedication is bringing ongoing innovation in more efficient, cleaner products and operations for our employees, customers and communities around the globe.

We’re reducing waste and water use in our facilities, even as we see our business growing. In addition, we’re finding alternatives to chemicals and hazardous materials in our products and operations, and leading the global development of sustainable aviation fuels.

Meeting climate change and other challenges head-on requires a global approach. Boeing works closely with government agencies, customers, stakeholders and research facilities worldwide to develop solutions that help protect the environment.

Our commitment to a cleaner, more sustainable future drives action at every level of the company. Every day, thousands of Boeing employees lead activities and projects that advance progress in reducing emissions and conserving water and resources.

In the face of rapidly changing business and environmental landscapes, Boeing is pursuing the innovation and leadership that will build a brighter, more sustainable future for our employees, customers, communities and industry.

Commercial Aviation

Because air travel helps drive economic growth and prosperity and brings the people of the world closer together, Boeing and the aviation industry are growing. And as air travel expands around the world, Boeing is taking a leadership role to continue to reduce aviation’s environmental impact by reducing fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions and noise. This benefits our customers, their passengers, our employees and the planet.

Boeing also has a comprehensive environmental strategy that includes:

Designing and building more fuel-efficient airplanes

Improving gate-to-gate operational efficiency for customers

Advocating for modernized air traffic management systems

Developing sustainable aviation biofuel

Reducing Boeing’s environmental footprint

Today’s airplanes are already 70 percent more fuel efficient and 90 percent quieter than the first jets. To make further progress, more than 75 percent of Boeing’s commercial research and development funding supports greater efficiency and environmental performance in our products, services and facilities.

Research & Innovation

Boeing Research & Technology’s technicians, technologists, engineers and scientists collaborate with partners around the world to solve environmental challenges.

As the advanced central research and development organization of The Boeing Company, Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T) provides innovative technologies that enable the development of future aerospace solutions while improving the cost, quality, efficiency and performance of Boeing products.

This includes finding innovative solutions around the world to improve environmental performance.

From researching biofuels, fuel cells and hybrid electric propulsion to improving air traffic management, finding sustainable composite materials and exploring new chemical coatings that resist corrosion, our team of technicians, technologists, engineers and scientists collaborate with research and development partners around the world to solve today and tomorrow’s environmental challenges.

Boeing Research & Technology has also partnered and contracted with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in researching both next generation and futuristic technologies and concepts that could make aerospace products more environmentally efficient.

Remediation

Each year, thousands of people visit Santa Susana in Simi Valley, Calif., to learn more about the site’s important place in history and experience firsthand its beauty and biodiversity.

Boeing’s remediation program is focused on using innovative approaches in cleanup efforts to ensure the protection of human health and the environment, coupled with the use of invaluable input from community members and environmental groups. This, combined with the guidance of leading environmental scientists and federal and state regulatory agencies, has led to great progress in cleaning up remediation sites. Boeing also often collaborates with wildlife and conservation organizations to restore habitat for the benefit of wildlife and the community.